Fergus Gordon Thomson Kerr (born 16 July 1931) is a Scottish

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

of the English Dominican province. He has published significantly on a wide range of subjects, but is famous particularly for his work on

Ludwig Wittgenstein Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein ( ; ; 26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrian-British philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. He is con ...

and

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wit ...

Biography

Following his education at Banff Academy and his service in the RAF (1953–1955), Kerr entered the

Order of Preachers The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of Cal ...

in 1956. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1962. Kerr studied in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, and

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. He was a student of Donald M. MacKinnon, John Holloway, and Cornelius Ernst. From 1966 to 1986 he taught philosophy and

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. In service to the English Dominican province, Kerr was Prior at Blackfriars Hall, Oxford from 1969 to 1978. From 1992 to 1998 he served as Prior at Blackfriars, Edinburgh. In 1998, he returned to

Blackfriars, Oxford Blackfriars Priory (formally the Priory of the Holy Spirit) is a Dominican religious community in Oxford, England. It houses two educational institutions: Blackfriars Studium, the centre of theological studies of the English Province of the D ...

, where he served as Regent until 2004. Kerr served as the Director of the Aquinas Institute,

and is the editor of ''

New Blackfriars ''New Blackfriars'' is an academic journal published by John Wiley & Sons that is formally linked with the English Province of the Order of Preachers (also known as the Dominican Order). The journal was launched in 1920 as a monthly review called ...

'', the bimonthly journal of the English Dominicans (1995–present). Currently, Kerr is affiliated with Blackfriars, Edinburgh, where he lives and works. He holds an honorary fellowship in the School of Divinity,

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

and has a role in the university's Catholic chaplaincy team. He is also an Honorary Professor of St. Andrews University, a distinction he has held since 2005. Kerr belongs to the Catholic Theological Society of Great Britain, of which he was president from 1992 to 1994. A

festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

was prepared in Kerr's honor entitled ''Faithful Reading''. Kerr was awarded an

Honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

of Doctor of Divinity by the University of Edinburgh in December 2019.

Selected publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerr, Fergus Gordon 1931 births Living people 20th-century British Roman Catholic theologians 20th-century Royal Air Force personnel 20th-century Scottish Roman Catholic priests Academics of the University of Edinburgh Academics of the University of Oxford Academics of the University of St Andrews Catholic philosophers New Blackfriars people People educated at Banff Academy People from Banff, Aberdeenshire Regents of Blackfriars, Oxford Scottish Dominicans Thomists